I’m looking to study International Relations/Government
Schools I’m looking at: Georgetown SFS, Harvard, UChicago, Brown, Yale, Stanford, Dartmouth, ya know those types of schools
GPA:
Cumulative (9-11) UW: 3.7
^I know its really bad. I go to a top college prep school (one of the best in the nation) in NoVa so my course-load is pretty rigorous. I’ve only gotten Bs in science/math classes and I have an upward trend. I don’t know if this helps. I’m really obviously bad at hard sciences like its really really really obvious I’m a humanities student bc my schools are always better in English/History
W: 4.3 i think (I combined my GPA from 9-11 so i think its this, otherwise for junior year I got a 4.5 first semester and 4.6 second semester)
Sophomore Year:
Calculus 1 Honors, WHAP, English Honors, Journalism, Chemistry Honors, AP Computer Science (I got a freaking C first semester but a B second semester but failed the AP test. this class was such a regret omfg. i feel like this might be a killer but I did improve but at the same time, i did fail the AP test BUT i am a humanities person so idk how this will affect me-sorry im so indecisive lol), Business, Spanish 3
Junior Year Course-load:
AP Calc AB, AP Lang, APUSH, AP Bio, AP Physics, Journalism
Senior Year Course-load:
AP Statistics, AP Euro, AP Lit, AP Gov/Econ, AP Psychology, Journalism
SAT: 2200
SAT II:
710 World History
740 US History
750 Literature
670 Physics 
ECs:
Policy Debate Captain (9-present), nationally competitive, won a bunch of awards
Academic Decathlon Captain (9-present)
School Newspaper, (10-present), just a plain old writer
out of school:
-created nonprofit on cultural awareness and peace-building, it focuses on addressing international relations
-part of an international youth coalition headed by the united nations that tackles millennial development goals (I have an officer position)
-work with a Ukrainian NGO and a Jordanian NGO
-youth consultant for this certain sector of the United Nations (dont want to be too specific bc i dont want to be identified)
-World Affairs Council of my county
-intern for my local congresswoman
-writer for the Huffington Post
-I study Russian, Arabic, and Kurdish with this online program
-media/editorial intern for a parliamentarian in my home country (we communicate through the internet and Ive visited her office in Iraq before)
Awards/Distinctions:
-lots of debate stuff (placed at Berkeley, Harvard, UNLV…) + went to state championship at my school
-i think my fellowship with the State Department is pretty impressive, no?
-got an award+ scholarship at the local, national, and international level by this organization for being a young student in public affairs
-i got invited to speak at a real UN conference in Europe (all expenses paid of course 
)
+various other awards and scholarships I’ve received
-attended other conferences like the Democratic Convention, Nexus Youth Conference)
-Organizing for Action fellow
Summer Stuff
12-Debate Camp at my high school
13-Debate Camp at a university (top rated)
14-Study abroad in Europe + debate camp
15-fellowship with the Department of State + research
^I didnt pay a dime for any of these since I won scholarships :*
Family Stuff:
Hooks: First Generation, poor??? idk
Struggles (this is so personal omg): diagnosed with depression in 10th grade
Income: ~50,000-60,000
Ethnicity: White (ughh I’m ME but there’s no option for that)
State: Virginia
Gender: F
Letter of Rec and stuff:
-my English and Government teacher who both know me really really well
-additional rec: i REALLY want to ask the parliamentarian I interned for but the problem is that I cant give out her contact info under ANY circumstances so she wouldnt be able to personally submit it for me. Idk why but shes totally against it her submitting stuff from her computer so I would have to submit it myself-Is that OK? Or should i have an adult here in the US who is also part of her campaign team send it in for me?
-Counselor: kind of knows me and knows about my personal trauma (my family lives in an active war zone so I frequently get news of the latest uncle/aunt/cousin murdered by insurgents. im usually sobbing in her office or sobbing at the nurse’s office)
Comments:
I’m so confused. I know I have really strong ECs like I’m really engaged with politics/government on the international level and I’m actually working for like the United Nations and doing programs with the State Department. I’ve worked with various NGOs and have done a lot of research especially on the MENA region.
I really love IR dont get my wrong and I want to go to a good school bc I know it sounds cheesy but I want to make my family proud. I’m not only the first person in my family going to college but also the first woman to be able to do the simplest task of picking up a pencil and writing. Its such a privilege for me to be able to do the simplest thing such as read, to go to school, to wake up each morning to a family, to be able to walk down a street without having acid thrown at my face, to be able to go to sleep without the sound of gun shots and bombs exploding, etc (my entire family lives in Iraq). I’m really connected to my home country and really really want to pursue this field.